Congratulations to our Gortskehy girls who overcame an excellent team from St. Joseph’s NS, Ballinrobe, in a thrilling encounter this morning at Kilmaine GAA grounds. Having all the hallmarks of a competitive county quarter final, Gortskehy got off to a good start with points from Alaois, Faye and Holly. Ballinrobe bounced back with two goals while Gortskehy narrowed the gap to the bare minimum as half-time approached. A fine point from Ballinrobe left them two points ahead at the interval on a scoreline of Gortskehy (0-5); Ballinrobe (2-1).

Gortskehy had the better start in the second half with Alaois splitting the posts for a fine point and Ciara blasting to the net at the end of a great passing move. Ballinrobe responded with two points to leave the teams level midway through the half. Alaois found the net and Faye tapped over from a free while Ballinrobe again scored a goal and, with a minute to go, lofted over a point to leave the teams level on the brink of full-time.

In what was to be her final kick-out of the game, Grace sent a long ball down the center where, despite two markers and a scramble for possession, Faye came away with the ball finding Alaois with a well-placed pass. Alaois held her composure to send over the winning point before the welcome shrill of the final whistle was greeted by loud cheers from jubilant Gortskehy supporters made up of pupils and parents alike. It was a fantastic match and an excellent display of football by both teams.

Grace had a fine game in goal with excellent kick outs, Aoife and Sorsha were tireless on the back line with Sorsha blocking at least one certain goal as full time approached. Alaois and Faye were once again exceptional at mid-field with Holly M and Holly H performing very well against a strong Ballinrobe defence. Ciara made a match-winning contribution when she joined the fray in the second half with the final scoreline Gortskehy (2-8); Ballinrobe (3-4).

Both the county semi-final and final will be played in The Dome at the Connacht GAA Centre of Excellence on Thursday, November 17th. It’s the first time the school has reached this stage of the competition and we’re very proud of all the girls.

Team and panel: Grace, Sorsha, Aoife, Alaois (1-3), Faye (0-2), Holly M, Holly H (0-2), Ciara (1-1), Caitlin, Daphny, Niamh, Ailbhe, Zara.
Because of age restrictions in the Mini-7 competition, Alisha, Aoibhínn and Niamh couldn’t take to the field but are an integral part of our training and match preparation.